News

Julia Roberts' sister left suicide note blaming Roberts

Compiled by Tony Hicks

Contra Costa Times

Posted:
02/12/2014 02:19:18 PM PST

Updated:
02/12/2014 02:21:30 PM PST

Julia Roberts' half-sister Nancy Motes reportedly left a lengthy suicide note blaming her sister for her troubles, according to the New York Daily News, which also reported Roberts tried to get her half-sister into rehab before she committed suicide Sunday.

A source close to the death investigation originally told The News that the note was five pages but later said it was eight.

"There were three pages of rantings that her sister drove her to do this. There was one page to her mom, telling her how much she loved her, and one page apologizing to (her fiance John Dilbeck)," the source said Tuesday.

A source close to Motes said Wednesday that she wasn't an addict. It wasn't clear whether it was the same person who talked about the suicide note.

"She was on some prescription medications, but she wasn't abusing them. She wasn't a drug addict," the source told the Daily News. The person spoke up after someone close to Roberts reportedly told RadarOnline.com that the 46-year-old actress urged her 36-year-old sister to get help.

"The sisters had a very complex relationship. They used to be very close when they were younger. Julia tried in vain over the years, even in the last six months, to get Nancy to go to rehab. Nancy refused the offers and that is when she would often publicly lash out at Julia," the source reportedly told Radar.

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"It hurt Julia, but she knew her sister was battling addiction," the source said. "The addiction to prescription drugs made Nancy a totally different person. There would be periods of sobriety and with that brought clarity. It would be during those moments that the sisters would reconnect. Sadly, of course, those times became less frequent before her death," the source said.

But a close friend of Motes disputed the report, saying Roberts "never" offered help to her younger sister after they had a major falling out over the summer.

"She never offered to pay for anything," the source said.

The source told The News that Motes felt "completely abandoned" by Roberts after she spoke about the "Pretty Woman" star in an interview last August, during which Motes said she believed the actress drove a wedge between her and their mother.

"She felt Julia was withholding their mother from her, and it was more than she could bear," the source said.

Craig Harvey, chief of coroner investigations for Los Angeles County, told The News that Motes "was found in a bathtub that contained water. There were prescription and nonprescription drugs found at the scene. The role the drugs may or may not have played is not yet known."

An autopsy was completed as of Tuesday morning, but officials were still waiting for the result of toxicology tests, coroner spokesman Ed Winter said.

Winter confirmed the suicide note Tuesday but said "it wasn't five pages."